Famicom Prices

[Scoots]

Is there ANY kind of benchmark for prices on Famicom carts? I bought Crazy Climber for $25 today because I'd been searching for it for a long time and had never seen one for sale. I can't find any kind of pricing info on it anywhere. Going by Ebay, there seem to be a lot of anomolous prices... $60 for Mappy or Tower of Druaga? Even mint complete that seems insane... I got both of those games for like $5 each here (loose). Same with Devil World and Gradius 2 which I see selling for like $30 each for the loose carts. Are we seeing the axiom of "it's worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay" in its most extreme form here?

I'd love to flesh out Fatman's Famicom pricing info a bit more but when I see crazy up and down prices like this it just makes my head spin. Any thoughts?

[fcfcfc]

It really depends. Loose Devil World isn't rare but (if what you say is correct) sells for quite a bit on ebay. I ordered a complete Famicom game (A Week of Garfield) that to my knowledge is somewhat rare (I think I saw a complete one once on Yahoo Japan but someone bought it quickly) from someone in Japan for around $45 (incl. his fee). There is NO WAY that the games you mentioned are worth like $30 for just the cart. Maybe if it was complete in mint condition that price would be a bit more accurate. On the other hand, some of the last print or whatever versions of Bandai games (That Gundam Hot Scramble game and Dragonball Z II) are worth A LOT of money. I think on Yahoo Japan, one was up to a few hundred US dollars (maybe even 1 thousand, but I don't remember clearly, saw it a long time ago). It seems to me that the common games are very cheap in Japan, and the rare games are very expensive.

[fcfcfc]

Here is one with a hight starting bid... A special version of Kinnikuman Muscle Tagmatch ("Present" is in the title, so I'm guessing some sort of gift version?)...? If anybody knows how in the hell this is different from the regular version, I would like to know. I have seen some others of this thing on YAJ, so I'm guessing it isn't that rare or worth that much. . .

Actually, this guy is selling what are to my knowledge THE rare Famicom games...

http://openuser1.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/user/nanmo1102?

Well, several at least. Some aren't there

[maxlords]

I've been wondering about this myself. With slowly amassing a Famicom collection, it's hard to price em out. I can tell what SOME rares are....but if it's obscure....forget it. No one in North America knows :)

[Scoots]

So what is the solution? Weigh every potential purchase inside a vacuum as it were, and hope you don't see the same item sell next week for 1/10th of what you just paid? I'm sure I'm not the only one here who likes to be an informed shopper about such things.

[maxlords]

So what is the solution? Weigh every potential purchase inside a vacuum as it were, and hope you don't see the same item sell next week for 1/10th of what you just paid? I'm sure I'm not the only one here who likes to be an informed shopper about such things.

Well, in general, I'd recommend not overpaying for anything until you've asked around some. I'm SLOWLY learning values on a case by case basis as I get offered Famicom carts. I think that's really the only way to do it. Look around, ask a ton of questions of anyone you know that's heard of that title, ask here, etc. I'll be glad to help if I can. What we COULD do is start compiling a list for the next edition of the DP Guide Advance. I'd be willing to help work on it and compile the database if you want. We can talk to Joe about it. I don't know what he's got already, but I know there's a TON so why not make ourselves useful and as we buy the damned things up, figure out the values that way?

[Scoots]

That is a great idea. I have a large portion of the titles database done already and I'm adding more daily as I get the time. Let me again make the plea to anyone that has good info along this line to submit it to Fatman's database. It's quick and painless and FREE.

[pseudonym]

i'd like to help if i can. i'm slowly gathering famicom carts but this is what i have right now.

gradius
dragon warrior 3
dragon warrior 4
castle excellent
debias
top secret
tower of druaga
dragon buster

i didn't pay much for any of them and all of them are cart only. also, does anyone know the rarity/value of recca? i'd love to get a hold of that cart.

[delafro]

Well, Mappy and Tower of Druaga are kind of "cult" games in Japan, so there are definitely some fans who are willing to pay a lot for it. And if the demand is higher in Japan I think that would translate to any other type of selling as well.